Frequently Asked Questions

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What Is Covered Under Homeowner's Insurance?

Homeowners Insurance: What Does It Cover?

If you’re buying a home in the United States, one thing you can’t go without is homeowners insurance. Homeowners insurance protects you from a variety of risks -- and can help reimburse you if your home is destroyed. Despite the benefits of homeowner’s insurance, it doesn’t cover everything. If you want to make sure you’re financially protected, you should know exactly what your homeowner's insurance does and doesn’t cover.

What Homeowners Insurance Doesn't Cover

In most situations, homeowners insurance policies do not cover events or situations including:

Floods

Earthquakes

Mold

Sinkholes

Sewer Backup

Termites

Stolen/destroyed cash or currency

Theft/destruction of expensive valuables (i.e. jewelry or fine art)

Dog attacks

Pool accidents

Trampoline accidents

Nuclear explosions

War

Identity theft

What Homeowners Insurance Usually Covers

Now that you know what most homeowners insurance policies don’t cover, let’s review the things that they do cover, which typically include:

Fire

Vandalism

Windstorms

Hailstorms

Tornados

Wind damage

Lightning strikes

Terrorism

How to Get Additional Homeowners Insurance Coverage

If you’ve realized that your homeowner's insurance policy isn’t covering everything you want it to, there are few things you can do. The most common way to remedy the situation is to purchase a rider, also referred to as an endorsement, which can extend your policy coverage. One of the most common endorsements covers expensive property within your home, such as jewelry, fine art, antiques, or oriental rugs. Some highly specialized policies can even protect you against minor damage or misplacement of these items.

If you happen to own an expensive home with a lot of expensive property, another option is to get high-value home insurance. Often, these policies are issued by specialized companies, and, while they may cost a lot more than typical homeowners insurance policies, they could save you a lot of hassle if you have a lot of pricey things to insure.

In addition, if you live in an area prone to hurricanes or earthquakes, you can purchase specific insurance policies to cover these risks, though they might also be somewhat expensive -- and, in some cases, you might already be partially covered. For example, if a home experienced wind damage in a hurricane, that would be covered by the owner’s regular homeowners policy. But, if the home also experienced flood damage, that part wouldn’t be covered -- and would only be covered if the owner had purchased a separate hurricane insurance policy.

If you would like to learn more about homeowner's insurance, fill out the form below and a home loan specialist will reach out to you

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